Introduction to Quantum GIS

So one may ask what is Q GIS?
QGIS is a free and open-source desktop geographic information system. An application that supports viewing, editing, and analysis of geospatial data. the software is devolped by the Open Geospatial Consortium which is also responsible for releasing new versions.

QGIS implements a large number of geospatial data access, visualization, processing, and analysis functions on vector, databases and raster data stored in a wide variety of formats e.g. ESRI Shape Files, KML, JSON, PostgreSQL, ESRI Personal Geodatabase and raster data in any format supported by GDAL raster library.

The software has a lot of advantages which include but not limited to:

Integration of a collection of a multitude of other geospatial tools from other open software e.g. GRASS GIS and SAGA QGIS. This provides a variety of geo processing algorithms.

 Plug in architecture in which extensions to the core functionality of the application can downloaded, developed and used

Greater speed and performance: QGIS is very fast compared to other software such as ArcGIS. It uses a small amount of time to carry out task this is because of the intern structure

Free cost: QGIS is free software to acquire and less expensive to maintain as compared to other software's like ArcGIS


To download the software, click here link to direct to the download page and install the software on your computer. after installation, the following QGIS window will appear.

Once you have finished this, you can proceed to the next tutorials.